Live data from Hacker News

Decrypt.py: Act like a decrypting hacker on tv

github.com

31–40 of 54 posts

Re: Decrypt.py: Act like a decrypting hacker on tv

#31
post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ah. Thanks for the clarification. At any rate, it looks cool but someone should really build a GUI for it.

No, a GUI completely misses the point here and would in any case be much less flexible. Learn to use the command-line (if you're not on Windows), it's fun! :)

Shoulda added a ";)" I suppose.

But to any of you reading this far, don't let being on windows be a deterrent. There are many excellent run-time distros out there to play around on. Google "run time Linux" for more.

And I wholeheartedly agree; it is quite fun (and rewarding) to learn.

:) Cheers!

Re: Decrypt.py: Act like a decrypting hacker on tv

#32
post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So... uhh... this one-liner will download and execute a python script. would really suggest that you read the script before executing it.

Looks clean to me. Check out for yourself of course. Does bring up an interesting dilemma. We all download code, libraries etc. all the time without going through it with a fine comb...

Note that the URL in the one-liner references the master branch, which can be updated at will by jtwaleson. A much better idea would be to use a link to a specific version if you are going to make claims towards its cleanliness:

  curl -O https://raw.github.com/jtwaleson/decrypt/f004b7eab7b949a55ea3c784fb9bac244aa0296e/decrypt.py; chmod +x decrypt.py; ls -la | ./decrypt.py

Re: Decrypt.py: Act like a decrypting hacker on tv

#34
post #14
post #2

Screenshots please!

Quick and dirty screencast http://youtu.be/DoDoOtlomsM

Thanks to you (and your terminal output), I'm now in the middle of reading "Street-Fighting Mathematics". :)

http://mitpress.mit.edu/books/full_pdfs/Street-Fighting_Math...

Re: Decrypt.py: Act like a decrypting hacker on tv

#35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is this the part where we mention Ken's talk on trusting trust for the 1,000th time?

http://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2006/01/countering_tru... No. Trusting trust isn't even applicable here. That trick only works with programs that build other programs.

You mean like the compiler that built the python interpreter that ran the script in question?

Re: Decrypt.py: Act like a decrypting hacker on tv

#36
post #8
post #5

Maybe I don't watch enough television but I don't think I've ever seen this effect in any TV show or movie. Anyone know of a show that did this?

Sneakers (1992)

Worked slightly differently, IIRC -- in the movie, the computer screen was already full of gibberish characters, which then randomly shifted to the correct color/character when the MacGuffin was applied.

Re: Decrypt.py: Act like a decrypting hacker on tv

#37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Looks clean to me. Check out for yourself of course. Does bring up an interesting dilemma. We all download code, libraries etc. all the time without going through it with a fine comb...

Note that the URL in the one-liner references the master branch, which can be updated at will by jtwaleson. A much better idea would be to use a link to a specific version if you are going to make claims towards its cleanliness: curl -O https://raw.github.com/jtwaleson/decrypt/f004b7eab7b949a55ea3c784fb9bac244aa0296e/decrypt.py; chmod +x decrypt.py; ls -la | ./decrypt.py

Good idea, I don't have a "Don't be evil" motto ;)

Re: Decrypt.py: Act like a decrypting hacker on tv

#38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Looks clean to me. Check out for yourself of course. Does bring up an interesting dilemma. We all download code, libraries etc. all the time without going through it with a fine comb...

Note that the URL in the one-liner references the master branch, which can be updated at will by jtwaleson. A much better idea would be to use a link to a specific version if you are going to make claims towards its cleanliness: curl -O https://raw.github.com/jtwaleson/decrypt/f004b7eab7b949a55ea3c784fb9bac244aa0296e/decrypt.py; chmod +x decrypt.py; ls -la | ./decrypt.py

Even that might not work if he has two versions with the same hash and sends github a forced update with push -f. though that's still a much more difficult proposition than just updating the master branch.

Re: Decrypt.py: Act like a decrypting hacker on tv

#39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Note that the URL in the one-liner references the master branch, which can be updated at will by jtwaleson. A much better idea would be to use a link to a specific version if you are going to make claims towards its cleanliness: curl -O https://raw.github.com/jtwaleson/decrypt/f004b7eab7b949a55ea3c784fb9bac244aa0296e/decrypt.py; chmod +x decrypt.py; ls -la | ./decrypt.py

Even that might not work if he has two versions with the same hash and sends github a forced update with push -f. though that's still a much more difficult proposition than just updating the master branch.

If he can generate two files with the same hash he can do much more interesting things than write a sketchy python script that a few people might run without reading.
Post reply on HN